In internal combustion engines, for example, of the gasoline, diesel, and/or gaseous fuel type, fuel and air may be introduced into cylinders for combustion. Pistons may move within the cylinders in order to compress the fuel and air mixture prior to combustion of the mixture. Combustion may then drive the pistons and yield a power output utilized, for example, to drive a machine, such as a stationary or mobile variety, including, for example, an on-highway truck.
Combustion in the cylinder may release energy and generate combustion by-products, most of which may be exhausted from the cylinder into an exhaust system of the engine, for example, during the exhaust phase of the combustion cycle. Engine components, such as pistons, may be exposed to the combustion and combustion by-products which may contain contaminants, for example, hydrocarbons (HC), carbon monoxide (CO), nitric oxides (NOx), soot, and unburned or partially burned fuel. In addition, some engine components, such as pistons, may also be exposed to oil droplets and oil vapor materials draining from other parts of the engine.
Such exposure to the aforementioned combustion products may result in fouling of engine component surfaces, including, for example, piston surfaces. This, in turn, may produce contaminant buildup (e.g., carbon deposits, oil coatings and sludge), on engine component surfaces, the result of which may produce corrosive effects upon these surfaces. A corrosive reaction may reduce the operational service life of the engine components. In addition, contaminants, such as carbon deposit buildup, disposed on surfaces of engine components may negatively affect the performance of the engine including, for example, power production of the engine, increased fuel consumption, and possibly reduce the operational life of the engine.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,884,466 issued to Kaloyeros et al. discloses a process for metal organic chemical vapor deposition for coating substrates. A nitrogen-containing gas is introduced into a deposition chamber by pulsing the nitrogen containing gas to react with an absorbed precursor and create a monolayer on the surface of a substrate. However, because nitrogen may provide an amount of reaction to some substrate materials, including, for example engine components such as surfaces of engine pistons, the deposition method of Kaloyeros et al. may not be sufficient to protect such surfaces from oxidation, corrosion, or contaminants, for example, in an engine operating environment. Furthermore, the coating layer provided by Kaloyeros et al. may not be at a required thickness to allow the coated component to be utilized within an operating environment at an acceptable or efficient level.
The present disclosure is directed towards overcoming one or more of the shortcomings set forth above.